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Thursday, February 19, 2009

Shocking news!!

Okay, so you guys may be wondering where I have been... Been looking at and researching other things..
BTW comments are fixed now (I think) so - happy commenting!! :)

I've been recently made aware of a great new channel for (hopefully) independent/alternative information on environment etc. here in Slovenia.
It's called Studio 12 and is supported by CEE Trust - Trust for Civil Society in Central and Eastern Europe which aims to help create independent media in this region (Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia).

Not only does it report of the latest developments re: Sai Baba and other spiritual themes, a whole section is devoted to environment and such!
And YES, they have TV shows about GARBAGE too!! (Now you see why I'm addicted!!:)

They invited into their studio the CEO of Slopak, the company that gathers recyclables in Slovenia. (Interestingly, the company is set-up and funded by chief-package-waste producers such as Coca Cola, beer breweries, Tetrapak, milk companies etc. - so stuff can get passed on to be recycled even if they have to pay for it - there are FUNDS set aside for this! they do not depend on the market solely, although it was easier when stuff was worth more.)

Not surprisingly, the CEO said THEY PREFER RECYCLABLES TO BE WASHED!! (which the garbage men have been wishy-washy about and never really made a clear advice) Of course it makes sense - if washed, the recyclables can be sorted much more easily, and they can wait longer for transport too (without getting smelly, mouldy or such) which makes the whole thing more economical and produces less emmissions from transport. Also, MUCH LESS chemicals are needed for washing the recyclables early after use as opposed to later having to use really strong and bad chemicals.(!)

But this isn't the shocking news yet!!
THIS is the shocking news: When asked about TRENDS worldwide, the CEO calmly talked about an interesting TREND how to 'make' waste/packaging, so they will have the best fuel effect (& will burn in a most consistent manner etc). GRR!!

This makes me wanna behave in an un-ladylike manner!!

I guess this explains all the rantings by the amazing Mrs A and the equally amazing Mrs Green!!

Here we are, thinking of how to reduce waste in ingenious ways, and they are actually DESIGNING best flammable and burnable waste - instead of focusing on LESS WASTE in the 1st place!!

I want to have a word or two with those DESIGNERS!!!!!!!

I am NOT a DESIGN Major but I have this book: Eco-Friendly Design
A friend of mine IS and she's never heard of it! (until I told her)
/Been meaning to do a review on it & will post it up when I do! - I think it is most helpful for visual-art/graphics designers, but packaging designers may find a hint or two too!!/

Maybe Mrs A and Mrs Green could invite some design college professors for a nice cuppa tea or a piece of zero waste cake?
Or maybe Poppy's protests need to be held outside a design college/University...? hmm!!

If you find a product or service (or incinerator) advertise itself to be 'green' or 'eco' and it's not - report it here: http://www.asa.org.uk/asa/how_to_complain/complaints_form/
(Found on the lovely edenbee.com)
I wish we had something like this for Slovenia-? Hey, maybe we have! Gotta check!! :)
(And while you're at it, maybe Complain to ASA about polluters adverts too?!!)

6 comments:

  1. Hi Layla!
    Good for you to have found such a media who is talking about environment issues! Here, in Italy, we have only few 'green' tv on-line and the main tv channels (the national too) totally ignore this important topic! So many people ignore that waste made by plastic, aluminium, steel and glass had to be washed before recycled!
    But it is a very sad news that industry project packaging in order to burn it! You're right to be angry! And the other sad things is that often we find graphics on product that seems to say "buy me, I'm green!"! How stupid we are!
    I've started to send mail to the customer service of some brands, complaining about their excessive packaging or puzzling recyclig symbols.
    I'm a graphic designer, but I design only books. Today I was complaining to my art director the fact that the editor decided to distribute all books packed in a plastic film, starting from now (so we must put the price in evidence on the back). GRRRR, I too!
    But at least thanks for the great suggestion of the book... I think I'll order it! See you!!!
    :Danda

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  2. Dear Danda, Thank you so much for commenting!! :)

    I was just over at Myzerowaste.com blog and it really infuriated me that they are planning the incinerator in Gloucestershire, more GRR!! :)

    So it really helps me to focus on minimizing when I get back to this blog and your lovely comments!!
    You are far ahead of me in sending e-mails (or letters?) to customer service of the firms!! (I never knew where actually to send a complaint-?)
    Maybe you could blog about this, how you do it, and which companies you've written to?
    (you can do it without revealing brands, not sure what the Blogger rules are!)

    Lots of books - and magazines! :( here in Slovenia are in plastic too!! Grr!!
    And that plastic is usually unusable!!
    I was really pleasantly surprised by amazon.de - all books were 'naked'! (Only dared to order when Mrs Green blogged about this!!:) And in really good condition!
    Do you guys sell these books on amazon too? This could maybe be an argument for not putting them in plastic? :)

    The eco-design book is really good, maybe look around if there is a new edition or a newer similar book, but the basics of this are very good!!
    It is so exciting that you are a designer!! :)

    Looking forward to more of your posts!!

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  3. I am delighted to "meet" you! You are certainly a passionately concerned young woman. I agree with your environmental concerns and I try to be responsible, but it is difficult, to say the least. For example, there is no longer any place in my city, Lancaster PA, that will accept paper (except newspaper)for recycling. Apparently, it is cheaper to grind up new trees to make new paper, than it is to grind up old paper to make new paper. I feel so guilty throwing my junk mail, cereal boxes, and old magazines into the trash.

    On a more cheerful note, I want to say how pleased I am to be "talking" to someone from Slovenia! When I was a teenager, I lived in a "steel town" and the mill was a magnet for recent immigrants from Eastern Europe. So on Saturday nights I had a choice of two different places to go polka dancing, the Slovene Hall or the KSKJ Hall (KSKJ stood for something in Polish, which I didn't understand). Oh, how I loved to polka, and oh how cute those Slovak boys were! Of course, that was over forty years ago and neither of those halls exists anymore. Omigosh! I just remembered the name of one of those boys! It was Ado Babajko! What a dreamboat he was. Sigh.

    Now I must ask...how on earth did you find my blog? I enjoyed your comments. :)

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  4. lol I found you on the sixsentences blog! - I was delighted by one of your comments and thought you must be a fascinating individual!! ;)

    Glad you had some funky polka dancing in the past!! :) /& hope you'll get a chance to do it again!!/

    That's really a shame about not being able to recycle!! Is this recent? There's been talk of Chinese companies no longer paying for the paper to recycle, and some even charging fees themselves!!
    That's why I see it good that a company to handle recycling here is not-for-profit.. They're still not ideal, but at least they MUST recycle, if it's profitable or not!

    Hmm, I agree Slovak boys are cute!! (had a crush on one or two myself!!:) Actually I am from Slovenia and Slovenian, which is actually a different country than Slovakia!!
    But, they call themselves 'Sloventsy' as we do!! And they call us 'Sloveentsy' - so that it's even more confusing!!
    (No wonder even your ex-president was perplexed!!:)

    Hope to see you drop by again... I really enjoyed your blogs and the commenting too!! :)

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  5. Yay Layla...it's so fantastic to see you joining the blogosphere. To get a perspective from another country is a real gift. However that can't be said of the attitudes that you have uncovered about waste. Thank you so much for blogging about this.

    I'm going to add you to my list of garbloggers so I can keep up with your posts. :-D x

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  6. Hey Mrs A!! :)

    Great to see you here!! :)

    Well, about attitudes re: waste, I'm afraid something really huge & global would be needed to wake people up... am considering writing to Michael Moore or some of the other 'big' documentary makers... It took 'Inconvenient Truth' & A LOT of Hollywood lobbying to sober people up..!!

    You're welcome to add me to the list, I'll do the same (if that's okay with you) immediately I figure out how!!:)

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